Rotary engine.



No. 802,828. PATENTED (10'1".24, 1905.

N. B. SMITH.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLIUATION FILED APR. 3, 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 802,828. PATENTED 00124, 1905. N. E. SMITH.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.3,1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

5 WITNESSES INVENZOR My ATTORNEY mums u GllAn-IM :0 maIt/umoaauwsns vusuwuvw n c PATENTED OCT. 24, 1905.

N. R. SMITH.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.3,1905.

3SHEETS-SHEET 3.

B I fi TTUR STATES PATENT OFFTQIE.

NORMAN B. SMITH, ()F SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

ROTARY ENGlNE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 24, 1905.

Application filed April 3, 1905. Serial No. 253,653.

To 61/ whom it 71mg concern.-

Be it known that I. NORMAN R. SMITH, a citi- Zen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Seattle, county of King, and State of Washington, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Rotary Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in rotary engines. and comprises the novel parts and combinations of parts specifically pointed out in the claims.

The object of my invention is to improve and simplify such devices.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my invention embodied in the form now preferred by me.

Figure 1 is a cross-section of my engine, taken at right angles to the axis of the shaft. Fig. 2 is a section on the axis of the shaft, except that at the left it follows the line of one of the steam-supply ports. Fig. 3 is a face view of one of the casing-heads. Fig. 4=is an external elevation of one pair of abutments and their carrying-arms and pivot. Fig. 5 is a detail 2 5 section taken radial with the cylinder at an exhaust port and valve. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section through the reversing and controlling valve. Figs. 7, 8, and 9 are sections of this valve, taken, respectively, on the lines A A, B B, and C C of Fig. 6.

The cylinder of my engine consists of a barrel or casing 1, having a cylindrical opening for the rotatory head 2, and casing-heads 10 10, closing the ends of the barrel and carrying The rotatory head is secured to the shaft and is provided with eccentric lobes or cam projections, the outermost surfaces of which are supposed to make a steam-tight contact with the inner periphery 4 of the cylindrical barrel or casing. I have shown the rotatory head as having two such lobes, although I am not limited to the use of this number.

The abutments consist of segmental plates 3, which operate through slots in the barrel or casing. These abutments are in pairs, the abutments of each pair being joined in such a way as to move reciprocally-that is, to move in and at corresponding rates. The inner 5 edges of the abutments bear upon the periphery of the rotatory head and are moved outward by the increasing radial outline of the head. To reduce friction, I provide the abutment edges with rollers 30. The abutments are each provided with a carrying-arm 31, and

the arms for the abutments of each pair are pivoted upon a common pivot 32, located outside the barrel or casing. The arms might, if constructional reasons permitted, be made in one integral piece. Because of such reasons I, however, prefer to make each arm and its abutment separate from the other and to secure them together so that when in place they are substantially integral. As shown, one arm of each set is provided with a central hub 3 1 and the other arm with two hubs 33, which embrace the hub 34:, the pivot 32 passing through all of thesehubs. These hubs are provided with lugs or projecting arms 35 and 36, and a bar or plate 37 extends across these lugs and is clamped to the inner lug by a bolt 38, thus securing the arms 31 together in a manner substantially equivalent to their being integral. I prefer that the bar 37 be of such material that it will act as a spring to permit a slight yielding, thereby allowing for such slight adjustment of the relative angular posi tion of the connected abutments as may be necessary to accomodate them to inaccuracies in outline of the rotatory head. The same means permits adjustment to secure the proper minimum pressure upon the rotatory head.

The rotatory head 2 has within its body the necessary steam supply and exhaust ports and valve shifting ports. These ports extend from one end face to or toward the periphery. Two steam supply and two exhaust ports are provided for each lobe. The steam-supply ports consist of two parts, one part 23 ex tending parallel with the shaft and opening out at the end faces and the other parts extending from the part 23 outwardly or away from the shaft and opening at the periphery. These outer parts 21 and 22 open, respectively, at opposite sides of the center line of the lobes. The ports 21 and 22 are intersected by a valve-seat 10 and valve 1 within the body of the rotatory head. This valve has a port 41, which may be made to register with either of the ports 21 or 22, the other port being at the time closed by the valve.

Exhaust-ports 5 lead from the periphery of the rotatory head to an annular passage 50, which communicates with a passage 51 in one of the casing-heads 10, to which the exhaustpipe is connected. Each exhaust-port has a valve 52 for controlling its opening. These valves are bars or plates sliding transversely in seats or ports formed in the rotatory head, so that they may be able to open or close the exhaust-ports. Two oppositely-located exhaust-ports are closed by these valves, While IIO the other two ports are opened. In their outermost or closed positions the outer surfaces of these valves are flush with the periphery of the rotatory head, whereby the smooth surface of the head is not interrupted at this point. The construction and operation of these exhaust-valves are shown in Fig. 5. Each valve consists of a bar 52 of rectangular cross-section fitting snugly in a recess extending inwardly from the periphery of the retatory head. It is held outward against the working steam-pressure by means of steam introduced beneath it through a small port 55, which communicates by means of ports 56 and 57 with an annular groove or port 58 or 59, located'in the end face of either the retatory head or the casing-head, as desired. These circular ports are in communication, respectively, with ports 46 and 47 leading to the controlling and reversing valve. (Shown in Figs. 6, 7, 8 and 9.) In order to hold the exhaust valves inward, steam is admitted through ports 44 to the space outside of the end extensions or ledges 53 and inward from the ledges 56 of the rotatory head. To shift the valves 4 controlling the steam-supply ports, steam is admitted to their ends through ports 42. Ports 42 and 44 communicate with port 43 and this through port 45 with one or the other of the annular grooves or ports 58 or 59.

The casing-heads 10, which close the ends of the barrel or cylinder, are both provided with steam-supply ports 24 and 25, which communicate with annular ports 11 and 12 lying back from the face of the heads. One of these ports is intended to supply steam for operating the engine in one direction and the other for operating it in the other direction. In this case I will call the port 12 the forward port and the port 11 the backward port. These ports 11 and 12 lead to a controlling and reversing valve 6. This valve is mounted upon the top of the barrel or casing l, which is provided with ports 17 18, adapted to communicate with the ports 13 and 14, which lead from the annular ports ll and 12 to the side face of the easing-head. The ports 46 47 are similarly carried over to the controlling-valve, communicating with the valve-casing 7 at 71 and 72.

' It is provided with a port 60 and preferably with an opposite counterbalance and passover port 64. In the position shown in Figs. 6 to 8 all the ports are closed. When turned, the first action is to deliver steam through the small port 62 to the segmental grooves 73 or 74 and thence through the ports 71 and 72 to the valve shifting and controlling ports, whereby the proper position of the valves is insured. A momentary connection is also made through one of the ports 77 with the port 7 0 leading to the exhaust, whereby water is drained from the valve. At the time steam is admitted to one of the ports 71 or 72 connection is made from the other one of these ports through the segment-groove 73 or 76 with the segment-groove 63 in the valve and the exhaust-port 76, whereby the pressure is released from one set of valve-shifting ports as pressure is applied to the other. These actions all take place before steam is admitted to the steam-supply ports, whereby the proper positioning of the valves is automatically secured prior to steam admission and by the very act of moving the steam controlling valve. Moving this valve in one way sets the valves in the rotatory head for rotation in one direction and moving it in the other direction sets the same valves for rotation in the other direction.

The ports 24 and 25 in the face of the easing-head may be so proportioned in angular width relatively to the angular width of the ports 23 in the rotatory head as to admit steam during such a proposition of the working stroke, as desired, the remainder of the stroke being completed on expansion. The angular separation of the ports 24 and 25 should also slightly exceed the angular width of the ports 23 in the rotatory head, so that the latter ports will not act as a communication between the former ports. If now steam be admitted to both ports 24 and 25, the duration of steam admission is increased throughout the greater time of the stroke and the power of the engine thereby increased. This expedient will also be found useful in starting the engine. Should the engine stop with the port 23 between and in communication with neither of the ports 24 or 25, the engine may be started backward by reversing until it is off this dead position. I am able to secure the above action by a continuation of the movement of the reversing-valve 6 until the port 64 is brought into communication with the port 17 or 18, in which case steam is being admitted to both said ports. It will be noticed that port is substantially twice the width of port 17 and 18, so that the latter ports may be fully opened without connecting either with the port 64. and the valve may be moved to fully open the other port 17 or 18 with the port 64 without reducing the effective-area of the port 60. At the time when an exhaust-port passes beneath an abutment there still remains a small space back of the abutment which is yet filled with steam to be exhausted. To release this and prevent its producing an obstructive resistance, I pro vide ports 48, connecting the steam-supply ports 21 and 22 with the outermost portion of the exhaust-ports 5, where they are stopped by the exhaust-valves 52 when in their outer position. By this expedient those reliefports which communicate with the steam-supply port which is in use are closed while the others are opened.

Itis evident that in many ways the constructions shown and described may be modified without varying the essential characteristics of my invention and without departing from the scope thereof. I do not, therefore, wish to be limited to the exact constructions shown.

What I claim is 1. A rotary engine comprising a cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having peripheral lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with its lobes in contact With the inner periphery thereof and abutments arranged to swing in pairs upon and at opposite sides of a common center and continuously engaging the periphcry of said rotatory head.

2. A rotary engine comprising a cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having peripheral lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with its lobes in contact with the inner periphery thereof, abutments arranged to swing in pairs, a carrying-arm for each of said abutments and a common pivot for the arms of each pair of abutments located between said abutments.

3. A rotary engine comprising a cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having peripheral lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with its lobes in contact with the inner periphery thereof, abutments arranged to swing in pairs, a carrying-arm for each of said abutments located between said abutments and means for securing said arms in pairs to move reciprocally.

4. A rotary engine comprising a cylindrical casing, I a rotatory head having lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with its lobes in contact with the inner periphery thereof and abutments secured together to swing in pairs upon a common pivot outside the casing.

5. A rotary engine comprisinga cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with its lobes in contact with the inner periphery thereof, abutments secured together to swing in pairs upon a common pivot outside the casing, said abutments lying respectively on opposite sides of their pivots and the casing having slots permitting the passage of the abutments within the casing to engage the periphery of said rotatory head.

6. A rotary engine comprising a cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with its lobes in contact with the inner periphery thereof, abutments secured together in pairs, a common pivot for the abutments of each pair and means for adjusting the relative angular positions of the abutments of a pair.

7. A rotary engine comprising acylindrical casing, a rotatory head having lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with its lobes in peripheral contact therewith, abutments secured together in pairs, a common pivot for the abutments of each pair and a yielding connection between the abutments of a pair permitting a slight adjustment of their relative angular positions.

8. A rotary engine comprising a cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having peripheral lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with its lobes in contact with the inner periphery, abutments arranged to swing in pairs, a common pivot for the abutments of a pair and a tension member connecting the abutments of a pair.

9. A rotary engine comprising a cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with its lobes in peripheral contact therewith, abutments arranged to swing in pairs, a common pivot for the abutments of each pair, a tension member connecting the abutments of a pair and means for adjusting the amount of said tension.

10. Arotaryenginecomprisingacylindrical casing, a rotatory head having eccentric lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with its lobes in peripheral contact therewith, segmen tal abutments grouped in pairs and each carried by an arm, the arms of each pair being mounted upon a common pivot outside said casing and the casing having slots Lier-mitting passage of the abutments, lugs adjacent the pivots on each arm and means for drawing said lugs together.

11. Arotary enginecomprisingacylindrical casing, a rotatory head having eccentric lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with the lobes in peripheral contact therewith, abutments arranged in pairs, the abutments of each pair being pivoted to swing by a common pivot lying between them and means for positively moving said abutments reciprocally and in both directions by the eccentricity of the rotatory head.

12. A rotary engine comprising a cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having eccentric lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with the lobes in peripheral contact therewith, abutments adapted to be operated by said lobes and pivotal supports for said abutments adapted to take the strain of the steam thereupon.

13. Arotary engine comprisinga cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having eccentric lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with the lobes in peripheral contact therewith, abutments adapted to be operated by said lobes, pivot-supports for said abutments adapted to take the strain of the steam thereupon and means for connecting said abutments together in pairs to move reciprocally.

14. A rotary engine comprising a cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having eccentric lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with the lobes in peripheral contact therewith, abutments adapted to be operated by said lobes, pivot-supports for said abutments adapted to take the strain of the steam thereupon, means for connecting said abutments together in pairs to move reciprocally and means for adjusting said connection to vary the relative angular position of the connected abutments.

15. A rotary engine comprisinga cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having eccentric lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with the lobes in peripheral contact therewith, abutments adapted to be operated by said lobes, pivotsupports for said abutments adapted to take the strain of the steam thereupon, means for connecting said abutments together in pairs to move reciprocally and comprising a spring member, whereby the relative angular position of connected abutments may be automatically varied to compensate for inaccurate construction.

16. A rotary engine comprising a cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having lobes and mounted to turn in said casing, abutments and means for moving them inward and outward, said head having separate sets of steam-supply ports adapted respectively for forward and backward operation, valves within the head for controlling the said ports and means for shifting the said valves by steam-pressure.

17. A rotary engine comprising a cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having lobes and mounted to turn in said casing, abutments and means for moving them inward and outward, said head having separate sets of steam-supp] y ports adapted respectively for forward and backward operation, valves within the head for controlling the said ports and means for shifting the said valves by steam-pressure,said head also having therein exhaust-ports and steam-operated valves for controlling said ports.

18. A rotary engine comprising a cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having lobes and mounted to turn in said casing, abutments and means for moving them inward and outward, said rotatory head having forward and backward steam-supply ports extending from its end face to its peripheral face, steam-supply valves mounted in the body of said rotatory head and each controlling one forward and one backward supply-port, said rotatory head also having ports extending from its end face to the ends of said port-controlling valves, whereby they may be shifted by steam-pressure, and a casing-head having corresponding ports adapted to communicate with the said ports in the rotatory head.

19. A rotary engine comprisingacylindrical casing, a rotatory head having eccentric lobes and mounted to turn in the casing with its lobes in peripheral contact therewith, abutments and means for moving them inward and outward to maintain contact with the periphery of the rotatory head steam-supply ports in said head, valves embedded in said head and controlling" the said steam-supply ports, valveshifting ports extending from each end of said valves to the end face of the rotatory head, and two circular grooves or ports in the end face of the rotatory head communicating each with its respective set of valve-shifting ports.

20. Arotary engine comprisinga cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having eccentric lobes 'lobes in peripheral contact therewith, abutments and means for moving them inward and outward to maintain contact with the periphery of the rotatory head, steam supply and exhaust ports in said 'head, admission and exhaust valves embedded in said head and controlling their respective ports, valve-shifting ports extending from said valves to the end face of the rotatory head, said rotatory head having two circular grooves or ports in its end face and communicating each with its respective set of valve-shifting ports.

21. In a rotary engine in combination, a cylindricalcasing, a rotatory head having eccentric lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with its lobes in peripheral contact therewith, abutments and means for moving them inward and outward to maintain contact with the rotatory head, said rotatory head having forward and backward operating sets of steam supply and exhaust ports extending from its end face to its periphery, the two sets of supply-ports opening in the same annular zone at the end face of the rotatory head, a casing-head having separate forward and backward steamsupply ports opening in an annular zone registering with the corresponding zone in the rotatory head, the steam-supply ports in the casing-head being separated angularly a distance slightly greater than the angular width of the ports in the rotatory head, and a valve controlling the supply of ports in the casinghead and adapted to admit steam to either or both of said ports at once as desired.

22. In a rotary engine in combination, a cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having eccentric lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with its lobes in peripheral contact therewith, abutments and means for moving them inward and outward to maintain contact with the rotatoryhead, said rotatoryhead having forward and backward operating sets of steam supply and exhaust ports extending from its end face to its periphery, the two sets of supplyports opening in the same annular zone at the end face of the rotatory head, the casing-head having separate forward and backward steamsupply ports opening in an annular zone registering with the corresponding zone in the rotatory head, and means for supplying steam to the cylinder through either one or both of the supply-ports in the casing-head without shifting said valves in the rotatory head.

23. In a rotatory engine in combination, a cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having eccentric lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with its lobes in peripheral contact therewith, abutments and means for moving them inward and outward to maintain contact with the rotatory head, said rotatory head having forward and backward operatingsets of steam supply and exhaust ports extending from its end face to its periphery, a casing-head having separate forward and backward steamand mounted to turnin the casing with its supply ports adapted to communicate with the corresponding ports in the rotatory head, and means for supplying steam to the cylinder through either one of said supply-ports in the rotatory head from either one or both of the supply-ports in the casing-head.

24'.- In a rotary engine in combination, a cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having eccentric lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with its lobes in peripheral contact therewith, abutments and means for moving them inward and outward to maintain contact with the rotatory head, said rotatory head having forward and backward operating sets of steam supply and exhaust ports extending from its end face to its periphery, a casing-head having separate forward and backward steamsupply ports, said ports in both heads opening within a common annular zone, and means for supplying steam to the cylinder through either one or both of the supply-ports in the casing-head.

25. In a rotary engine in combination, a cylindrical casing, a rotatory head having eccentric lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with its lobes in peripheral contact therewith, abutments and means for moving them inward and outward to maintain contact with the rotatory head, said rotatory head having forward and backward operating sets of steam supply and exhaust ports extending from its end face to its periphery, a casing-head having separate forward and backward steam-supply ports, said ports in both heads opening in a common annular zone and the ports in the casing-head being separated angularly a distance slightly greater than the angular width of the ports in the rotatory head, and means for supplying steam to the cylinder through either one of said supply-ports in the rotatory head from either one or both of the supply-ports in the casinghead.'

26. In a rotary engine in combination, acylindrical casing, a rotary head having eccentric lobes and mounted to turn in said casing with its lobes in peripheral contact therewith, abutments and means for moving them inward and outward to maintain contact with the rotatory head, said rotatory head having forward and backward operating sets of steam supply and exhaust ports extending from its end face to its periphery, a casing-head having separate forward and backward steamsupply ports, said ports in both heads opening within a common annular Zone, said ports in the casing-head being separated angularly a distance slightly greater than the angular width of the ports in the rotatory head, and a valve controlling the supply-ports in the easing-head and adapted to deliver steam to either one or both of the said supply'ports as desired.

27. In a rotary engine, in combination, a casing or cylinder, a rotatory head therein having forward and backward steam-supply ports, a casing head having forward and backward steam-supply ports each adapted to communicate with each of the said ports in the rotatory head, valves for controlling said ports in the rotatory head to close one of them, and means for supplying steam to either one of said ports in the rotatory head through either or both of said ports in the casing-head.

28. In a rotary engine, in combination, a casingor cylinder, a rotatory head therein having steam-supply ports, the casing-head having a plurality of steam-supply ports adapted to successively communicate with the supplyports in the rotary head, and means for supplying steam as desired through one or more of said supply-ports in the casing-head.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature, this 28th day of March, 1905, in the presence of two witnesses.

NORMAN R. SMITH.

Witness es H. L. REYNOLDS, PAUL A. TALBOT. 

